Keep Your Voice Down
Keep Your Voice Down is a podcast featuring fellow Central Michigan University journalism grads and best friends Alek Haak-Frost and Doug Sears, Jr. Alek, the executive editor of Watershed Voice, and Doug, a Watershed Voice writer and columnist, will discuss a variety of topics including the week's top stories in St. Joseph County and beyond, as well as pop culture and other general nonsense. With 13 years of friendship and training from the best journalism school in the State of Michigan under their belts, Doug and Alek try to make sense of the world around them, while ensuring neither takes themselves too seriously. So pull up a chair, turn up the volume, and no matter what happens, don't keep your voice down.
Episodes
Canadian journalist and baker Chantal Hortop, who serves as managing editor of The Gleaner in Quebec, stops by Keep Your Voice Down to talk cake and shop with hosts Doug Sears, Jr. and Alek Haak-Frost. The wide ranging conversation includes how Chantal and Alek met, the impact of the LION Independent News Sustainability Summit on both their organizations, what local journalism looks like in Canada, and Chantal's penchant for c...
Keep Your Voice Down hosts Alek Haak-Frost and Doug Sears Jr. discuss Alek's experience during the tornado that touched down in Three Rivers last week and the days that followed. Alek describes how the community has come together, what he did and felt as the tornado went through his neighborhood, the humanity, empathy, and care on display as Three Rivers picks up the pieces, and how disheartening it was to witness the vulturou...
WMUK's Gordon Evans stopped by Keep Your Voice Down this week to discuss his career in public radio, the state of journalism, how it's changed, where it's headed, and what gives him hope about the industry he's dedicated his life to. Other topics include the quotability of Almost Famous, news anchors of yesteryear and the glaring absence of such figures in 2026, U.S. women's hockey, and whether Doug Sears J...
Keep Your Voice Down hosts Alek Haak-Frost and Doug Sears. Jr. are joined by Screen Tea Podcast hosts and friends Lisha and Jules McCurry to talk about love. The quartet discuss how they met their future spouses, when they decided to get married, what makes their respective marriages work, and the films about love they love.
The show’s theme is “Howling at the Moon” by D Fine Us, and this week’s outro music is “March the Machine” by...
Keep Your Voice Down hosts Alek Haak-Frost and Doug Sears Jr. are joined by frequent collaborator and friend Layne Deuel to talk about distractions that helped them endure the past year. The trio discuss the benefits of going to the movies alone, why Sinners was easily the best film they saw all year, books that made them laugh (shout out to Princess Donut and Dungeon Crawler Carl), and the video games Layne plays in the wee hours ...
By the grace of Betty White, Doug and Alek return to their respective mics to look back at the year that was on Keep Your Voice Down. The duo also touch on Watershed Voice's year-end fundraising efforts, emphasizing the importance of community support and monthly recurring donations in sustaining local, independent news. The conversation concludes with discussion about supporting others, the value of listening more, and reconn...
Watershed Voice Staff Writer Maxwell Knauer joins Keep Your Voice Down hosts Doug Sears Jr. and Alek Haak-Frost for what might just be the most chaotic conversation in KYVD history.
Alek goes "full Larry David" over his counterparts' use of their full first names in some settings (professionally, on social media, etc.), while almost no one refers to them by those names in the course of every day life. Maxwell describ...
Keep Your Voice Down hosts Alek Haak-Frost and Doug Sears Jr. are joined by Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed.
The former Rhodes Scholar and Michigan gubernatorial candidate fields questions about civil liberties, affordable housing, Medicare for All, and automation's impact on the economy. El-Sayed is running for Michigan's soon-to-be open U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Sen. Gary Peters, who is n...
Keep Your Voice Down hosts Alek Haak-Frost and Doug Sears Jr. reveal the lineup for the fifth annual Watershed Voice Artist Showcase, which will take place later this month at The Huss Project in Three Rivers. The duo also explores the role of AI in content creation and journalism, what is lost in the over reliance of such technology, and what society stands to gain by re-embracing human creativity and connection.
Keep Your Voice Down hosts Alek Haak-Frost and Doug Sears Jr. are joined by Three Rivers Pride Board Secretary Lexi Jacobs, President Chuck Lepinski, and Volunteer Coordinator Sarah Apwisch to preview the third annual Three Rivers Pride Festival.
This year's festival will take place Saturday, June 21 in downtown Three Rivers from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. The event will include live music, food, and access to over 40 vendors offering a...
Watershed Voice launched in 2020 only weeks after the COVID-19 pandemic had much of the country sheltering in place, and a short time before protests, the size and frequency of which the country hadn't seen since the Civil Rights movement, dominated the headlines. It was a tumultuous time in the history of the United States, and quite possibly the worst time to start a new business outside of the Great Depression. Yet somehow,...
This week on Keep Your Voice Down Three Rivers singer-songwriter Lucky Fultz joins hosts Alek Haak-Frost and Doug Sears, Jr. to discuss his upcoming album "Riverside Drive," which is set to drop on February 28. Fultz details his musical influences and methodology, Tupac gets praise, Drake gets all the smoke, and male vulnerability is celebrated.
The show’s theme is “Howling at the Moon” by D Fine Us, and this week’s outro ...
Keep Your Voice Down hosts Alek Haak-Frost and Doug Sears, Jr. are joined by Watershed Voice Staff Reporter Najifa Farhat to discuss her educational and professional background, the experiences in Bangladesh that propelled her toward a career in journalism, family dynamics, and her interest in climate vulnerabilities.
The show’s theme is “Howling at the Moon” by D Fine Us, and this week’s outro music is “Till I Die” by ZISO. You can...
Watershed Voice Short Story Contest winners Tereasa Bellew & Sundos Hejazi recently dropped by Keep Your Voice Down to discuss their winning pieces.
Sundos, whose short story titled "One Man" won the 17 and under category, lives in Portage where she attends Portage Central High School. Tereasa, a grandmother of five and great grandmother of two, won the 18 and over category with her short story "A New Beginning.&q...
OK, Brittni Huyck was gone for a minute but she's back now, and she has a new story to tell, literature(ly). The local author, hairstylist, and Three Rivers native dropped by Keep Your Voice Down Thursday to promote the fourth (and possibly final) book in her Iron City Heat Series "Someone Like Him."
Doug, Alek, and Brit discuss the obstacles she encountered between writing her third and fourth book, why she...
Alek and Doug are back (as is Doug's voice) to discuss the upcoming launch of Watershed Voice's new website, the importance of maintaining editorial independence and practicing watchdog journalism, and the news magazine's ongoing need for financial support.
The show’s theme is “Howling at the Moon” by D Fine Us, and this week’s outro music is “Appassionato” by Noto. You can support Keep Your Voice Down and Watershed ...
Kalamazoo-based creative Marcel Fable Price drops by Keep Your Voice Down to promote his book "New American Monarch," and perform an excerpt from the title ahead of its October 8 release. Alek, Doug, and Fable also settle the Chicago deep dish versus New York style pizza debate, discover the link between Fable's love of nature and Louis Armstrong, and discuss the myriad of ways one can process trauma and grief.
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Alek and Doug are joined by Watershed Voice staff writer Frank Stanko for his long overdue Keep Your Voice Down debut. The trio discuss Samwise Gamgee and the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, Frank's journey from Michigan to North Dakota and back again, the challenges, rewards, and current state of journalism, and Frank's passion for theatre.
Alek also promised a link to that TikTok personality who perfectly melds NPR styl...
In true Watershed Voice fashion the Keep Your Voice Down (wrecking) crew brings the news in this week's episode. Doug and Alek discuss the fourth annual Artist Showcase lineup announcement slated for next week, the Huss Project Farmer's Market that kicks off on Saturday, June 1 (according to Doug's Fitbit), and the official end to Watershed's paywall, making content accessible to all regardless of financial circ...
Doug and Alek dusted off their mics and got back into the game this week after nearly five months away, explaining where they’ve been, why it’s been so long, and what not to do when it comes to retrieving DoorDash orders or cleaning up dog pee.
The show’s theme is “Howling at the Moon” by D Fine Us, and this week’s outro music is “Take It to the Top” by Orrin. You can support Keep Your Voice Down and Watershed Voice with a...
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